“So, how should we celebrate another victory?
I vote we go get some ice cream.” I didn’t bother trying to come up with anything original, instead suggesting one of the Snow Elves’ favorite treats.
Compared to the ice cream I was used to, the local version was simply much colder.
An ordinary human would’ve frozen their entire mouth solid eating it—and probably died in the process.
Otherwise, the biggest difference was the sheer number of flavors available.
As the locals liked to joke, very few elves would ever manage to taste every single one.
The Snow Elves’ love of art extended to their cuisine just as much as everything else.
“Ice cream?
Mmm…” Vaysi deliberately dragged out her answer, as though she didn’t want to rush off for her favorite dessert that very instant.
But under my teasing gaze, she finally surrendered, silently admitting once again that I knew her faaar too well.
“Fine.
Fine, let’s go!”
…It was while we were enjoying our ice cream topped with the local berries Skyrim was so rich in that we were attacked…
By them.
Dragons.
As the saying goes, nothing seemed out of the ordinary at first.
Our improvised excuse for a date was going well.
I’d never had much trouble holding a conversation, and knowing my future sweetheart’s tastes, habits, and the like meant I could avoid boring her with topics she didn’t care about.
We were both enjoying ourselves.
And then…
Boom.
A deafening roar echoed across the entire city, making us instinctively reach for our swords while somehow, by sheer miracle, not dropping our ice cream.
“W-what…
what is that…?” Vaysi’s voice trembled openly as the unmistakable silhouette of a flying reptile appeared above the city.
“Something we’re obviously going to have to kill,” I answered in a grim, pessimistic tone, every bit as stunned as my partner.
Of all the things I could’ve expected, dragons weren’t anywhere on the list.
Not even close…
Although, come to think of it logically… they had to show up in Tamriel and Skyrim at some point, didn’t they?
So why not now?
Drawing my flamberge from its scabbard while biting off the last large chunk of my ice cream in a single mouthful, I felt the spreading cold clear my mind.
…Now I get how Ysgramor defeated the elves.
Noooow I get it.
The dragons were involved too.And unlike the humans of the current era, they actually were capable of bringing down an advanced magical civilization.
“Fus…” Oh, I don’t like the sound of this…
“Ro Dah!” came the legendary shout…
and I was nearly knocked off my feet.
Even from this distance…
Holy shit.
Dragons in real life were a hell of a lot more dangerous than they ever were in the game.
“What is that?!” Vaysi shouted to me, already preparing what looked like some kind of long-range spell.
“First we clip that lizard’s wings.
Then we’ll find out.” I bared my teeth as dozens—then hundreds—of jagged ice spikes streaked toward the two winged beasts.
Even the ordinary civilians reacted instantly, attacking with whatever magic they could muster.
Yet another advantage of a magically advanced race and civilization.
“All right…” I spotted a path toward the creatures descending to the ground.
“Don’t get too close!” I called to the elven girl, giving her one last instruction before once again drawing upon the River of Time.
The world slowed.
I accelerated.
My path led upward, across the rooftops, which I reached by climbing the countless decorative ledges built into the white stone buildings, their elegant projections lending the architecture an even greater sense of grace.
“Gaf?..
Joor?..
Kaal?..” the red dragon uttered in a voice that hadn’t slowed nearly as much as everything else, turning one great eye toward me.
Something pricked at the back of my mind when I caught sight of my opponent’s crimson scales, but I paid it little attention, leaping straight from the rooftop onto the dragon’s neck with my sword gripped in both hands.
The insane stunt worked.
Caught completely off guard by the sheer audacity—and speed—of a mere mortal, the dragon didn’t have time to jerk its head aside before my blade drove straight between its scales, the flamberge’s wavy blade locking it firmly in place.
A flamberge I’d infused with frost magic on the way over, having reasonably concluded that a red dragon would be less vulnerable to my favorite element: fire.
Keeping a firm grip on the hilt, I turned the dragon’s own twisting neck against it.
The harder it tried to throw me off, the wider it tore open its own wound, multiplying its pain.
Thanks to the way its body was built, its wing-arms couldn’t reach me.
Half-crazed with pain, the reptile still managed to slam me with one of its wings, but fortunately only a glancing blow—the world was still slowed enough for me.
That was enough to make it lose its balance in midair, and the massive reptile crashed bodily into one of the buildings.
“Ghk!” escaped my lips as I slammed into the wall as well.
On the bright side, the crash finally gave me the leverage to yank my sword free.
The flamberge’s serrated profile did its work perfectly, ripping through the dragon’s flesh and widening the wound even further.
The frost enchantment on the blade would keep it from losing too much blood, but I was counting on it to slow the creature’s regeneration.
Surely dragons possessed something of the sort.
Their affinity for magic was nothing short of phenomenal.
If elves stood at roughly forty out of a hundred, dragons were closer to eighty.
Even atronachs were only a little higher—around ninety.
I called upon the River of Time once more, its flow having been disrupted by the impact that had badly bruised half my back and my left shoulder.
“Tiid!..” the dragon exclaimed, sounding almost shocked.
It recovered even faster than I did!
“Dovah!” I shot back.
A savage grin spread across my face all by itself as I launched forward, watching the dragon raise its head higher while propping itself up on its wing-arms.
I had a pretty good idea what was coming next…
“Yol…
Toor!”
The flames blooming inside its jaws erupted with startling speed…
****ʕ ᵔᴥᵔ ʔ****
Guys (and girls), a new week has begun, and like any new book, this one needs your support the most during its first steps.
I’d really appreciate it!